Artsopolis is Now LiveSV

The Arts Council Silicon Valley has launched a slick new site to replace Artsopolis and it adds all sorts of new social elements to it. To check it out, head over to www.LiveSV.com (there is also a permanent link on the right under San Jose Culture). They're billing it as "a dynamic new website platform and online community designed to help the public discover, experience, and share what's new and unique in the Silicon Valley arts, culture and entertainment scene." Sounds great to me, I wish them all the best.  Click here to read the full press release.

Also, have a look at some of the snazzy advertising they've been doing:

Wednesday Wishlist: Bring Hart's Back

This one may be a bit of a stretch, but how cool would it be to see Hart's department store return to Downtown San Jose? I would love to see a new retail anchor Downtown that is completely unique to San Jose and offers quality products with a high level of customer service. Hart's filled those shoes perfectly before Valley Fair and suburban sprawl started to come into play. 

A couple week ago, the Merc had a great article about the store that played such a large role in San Jose's history. It's well worth a read right over here.

People-Shaped Animals Exhibit at KALEID Gallery

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

art work by Nicole Dornsife

People-Shaped Animals

Concurrent with the annual Further Confusion convention in downtown San Jose, KALEID Gallery hosts a collection of work from artists participating in the furry subculture coordinated by Brian Root.

The furry crowd's roots are in indie comics and scifi/fantasy illustration, with a huge volume of art produced that's rarely seen outside of the convention's doors.

The central theme of the show is anthropomorphism in animal illustration - whether that's in cartooning, folklore, wildlife illustration, or fantasy art, the unifying thread is that all of the contributors to this show find something in making pictures of animals that speaks to them.


art work by ZD

Participating Artists:
Ashalind
AC
Ginger Cooley
Kris Jaques
Mandi Tremblay
Zhivago
Marilyn Cole
Erin Middendorf
Christina Hanson
Miguel Angel Garcia
Roz Gibson
Jessica O'Black
Nicole Dornsife
Barbara Utzinger
Sarah Finnigan
Keovi
Brendan Cunningham
Claudya Schmidt
Growly Lobita
Laura Garabedian
Brian Root

Exhibition Dates: Thursday, January 12th through Sunday, January 15th.
Exhibition Hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday Noon -7pm, Sunday Noon - 5pm


88 South Fourth Street (at San Fernando)
Downtown San Jose
(408) 947-1785 





SJ Autoshow 2012

It’s been a while since I’ve gone to the SJ Autoshow & so when a mate of mine phoned up it sounded like a good idea (Plus, I had been watching a lot of Top Gear).

There were a lot of cars, people & kids.  Even a giant 8ft DJ robot.

Most of the cars were pretty normal production cars, not has many concept or exotic cars.  But it was nice getting to see some cars up close.  Especially the Fiat 500 Cabrio, I chatted with the Fiat girl (technically Dodge) for a bit about it too.  I had always wanted to checkout the Fiat.  The convertible top is great fun.  The Mini Countryman is cool as well.

Saw a Coda, which I had never even heard of before.

Then we dropped by the exotic cars & I came upon a Fisker & a McLaren, both fantastic looking cars.  Unfortunately, they wouldn’t even let us near these cars since even a fingerprint would cause the car to depreciate by $1K.

We swung by Lexus as well to look for the IS F & the LFA.  The IS F was nice, but they didn’t have the LFA so we dropped by to chat with the Lexus girl.  Will he buy one?

Nope, he’s gone with the Dodge RAM.  And on that bombshell, we’ll see you guys next time.  You can see the other photos on the true2lifepix FB site.

Interesting Article on Dating in San Jose

It's not everyday you find an article about relationships/dating in San Jose. The interviews conducted were on the streets of Santana Row and Downtown San Jose. I won't spoil anything for, but will say it was an interesting read over here.

View From the Top of AXIS

Thanks to Tom for the video!


Feel on Top of the World at AXIS from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Happy New Year Sale at KALEID!

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

All the artists and staff at KALEID wish you and yours a very HAPPY 2012!
Celebrate the New Year by treating yourself to new art work for your home or office. Select gallery artists are having a very limited time only sale of 10-50% off their original art work Jan. 4th thru Jan. 14th.
Participating Artists include:


"Rock N The New Year!" 20% off the entire Rock N the Trend jewelry collection


All paintings by Blaise Rosenthal are 25% off


All paintings by Mariana Barnes are 20% off


All art work by Sandi Billingsley is 50% off


All photography by John Paulson is 20% off


All art work by Dotti Cichon is 20% off


All paintings by Mark Damrel are 20% off


All paintings by Charis DeRemer are 20% off


All paintings by John Renzel are 10% off


All paintings by Florence de Bretagne are 20% off


All drawings by David Mejia are 10% off


All jewelry by Sosie Designs is 10% off


All photography by Joe Decker is 25% off


All jewelry by Paulette May is 25% off

Additional artists participating in the sale are: Cecilia Deck (-20%), Cari Ferraro (-20%), Tere Barbella (-20%) and Haley Goodlett.

NEW YEAR SALE: Jan. 4 thru Jan. 14th
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday, noon -7pm and Saturday noon-7pm


88 South Fourth Street (@ San Fernando)
San Jose, CA
info@KALEIDGallery.com
408-947-1785

Sainte Claire Hotel is Becoming a Westin

Recently the news broke that Wolff Urban Development (owned by Lew and Keith Wolff) purchased the Sainte Claire Hotel  from Larkspur Hotels. Turns out they are not only going to do a remodel of all the rooms and hallways, but they are also re-branding it as a Westin. This would make it only the second hotel with a Starwood affiliation in San Jose, the other being the Four Points Sheraton across the street. Other affiliated hotels with Starwood are Aloft, Element, Le Meridien, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, and St. Regis.

I'm pretty stoked as Starwood is by far my favorite hotel chain. In fact, I've done a ton of travel this year and last week I hit my 25th Starwood stay for 2011 at--appropriately for me--the Four Points in Downtown San Jose (which is probably the nicest Four Points in the world right now). As for the Westin, this is a very strong brand and will no doubt attract many business travelers and perhaps even a few weekend vacationers. Next on my Starwood wishlist is a hip W Hotel anywhere Downtown.

For more info on the Westin San Jose, click here.